East Anglian rivals Norwich City and Ipswich Town meet at Carrow Road in the EFL Championship on Sunday. Daniel Farke’s side moved back to the top of the division with a stunning 3-1 win over Leeds United at Elland Road last weekend. Meanwhile, the Tractor Boys remain rooted to the foot of the table, a whopping eight points adrift of safety.

As expected, the Canaries go in to this one as the huge favourites, with the bookies pricing the league leaders at just 4/11. As for Town, Paul Lambert’s team are available at the big price of 15/2 to cause an upset in Norfolk on Sunday. In truth, this should be a stroll in the park for Farke’s Canaries.

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Norwich City News: Canaries Back on Track

Norwich are unbeaten in five league games since losing 4-3 to Derby County at Carrow Road in their final game of 2018. In fact, that loss to the Rams remains their only Championship reverse since a 1-0 home loss to Stoke City back in early October. Farke’s troops have drawn a lot of games recently, though, with half of their last 12 league matches ending level. Norwich leapfrogged Leeds in the table last weekend, sealing an excellent 3-1 victory in Yorkshire.

Can City Hold Their Nerve?

Not many people would have had Norwich down for promotion back in the summer, but the Canaries have enjoyed a fine season thus far. Despite kicking off their campaign with one win in six, Norwich lead the away with 16 fixtures left. The Norfolk club have had a number of promotions to the Premier League in recent times, which should stand them in good stead for the run in. Can Norwich hold their nerve and beat Leeds to the title this season?

Pukki to Fire Norwich to Promotion?

Teemu Pukki has been an outstanding signing for Norwich this term. The forward arrived on a free from Brondby last July as somewhat of an unknown entity. However, the Finland international has hit the ground running, scoring an impressive 18 league goals so far. Ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, Pukki is one goal away from joint leaders Billy Sharp and Tammy Abraham in the race for the Golden Boot. Norwich will be hoping that his goals will fire them to promotion to Premier League at the end of the campaign.

Ipswich Town News: Tractor Boys in Woeful Form

Norwich are flying high, but their rivals are having a season to forget. Ipswich go into Sunday’s clash a staggering 39 points behind the Canaries in the table. Town have picked up just three league wins all season, although two of those have come under Lambert. The Tractor Boys head to Carrow Road having lost seven of their last eight in all competitions. Meanwhile, Ipswich have won just once away from home, beating Swansea City 3-2 at the Liberty Stadium way back in October.

Town on Their Way to League One

After being relegated from the Premier League in 2002, Ipswich have stayed in the second tier ever since. However, with the club eight points away from safety with time running out, Town’s 17-year stay in the Championship looks to be coming to an end. Mick McCarthy did a fantastic job at Portman Road in recent years, guiding the club to the play-offs on a shoestring budget back in the 2014-15 season. Since his departure, though, things have gone rapidly downhill for Ipswich. The team from Suffolk are available at the big odds of 9/1 to stay up this season, which tells you all you need to know about their survival chances.

Analysis: Easy Home Win

Norwich have been tremendous at home this season, picking up 29 points from 15 league games at Carrow Road – only Sheffield United and Leeds (both with 30) have accumulated more. The Canaries have the best away record while no team in England’s second tier have taken less points on the road than Ipswich (five). All the stats are pointing towards this being a routine home victory for the Championship leaders.

Comfortable Margin of Victory for City

Norwich’s 3-1 win at Leeds last Saturday was a real signal of intent. It was also the fifth time that the Canaries have won by more than one goal in the league since November. The hosts are priced at 11/10 to win with a -1 goal handicap yet again this Sunday.

Another 3-1 Victory for Farke’s Side

Farke’s boys may be flying high in the table, but clean sheets have been hard to come by. Incredibly, Norwich have failed to stop the opposition from scoring in each of their last seven league and cup fixtures. City’s last two wins have finished in 3-1 scorelines, so have a punt on Norwich to win 3-1 again at 12/1.

Vrancic to Keep Up Fine Goalscoring Record

Pukki has stolen all the headlines this season, but Mario Vrancic has shipped in with several important goals, including two at Elland Road last time out. The Bosnia & Herzegovina ace is priced at 11/4 to notch anytime in this weekend’s East Anglian derby.

Recent Matches

Ipswich have an abysmal recent record against Norwich, failing to beat their rivals in any competition since a 3-2 Championship victory at Portman Road back in April 2009. Town have not won at Carrow Road in over 13 years. Since Ipswich’s 3-2 win nearly a decade ago, the Canaries have won six of the following 11. Things have been pretty evenly lately, with four of the last five league meetings ending all square.

2nd September 2018: Ipswich Town 1 – 1 Norwich City

In the reverse match at Portman Road in September, the rivals played out a 1-1 draw. Gwion Edwards gave the home team the lead on 57 minutes, but Moritz Leitner’s 71st minute equaliser was enough to give Norwich a share of the spoils in Suffolk.

18th February 2018: Norwich City 1 – 1 Ipswich Town

At Carrow Road last season, Norwich and Ipswich played out a 1-1 draw. Luke Chambers thought that he had given the Tractor Boys a rare and priceless win over their rivals by netting in the 89th minute. However, the Canaries went straight down the other end and levelled things up through Timm Klose.

22nd October 2017: Ipswich Town 0 – 1 Norwich City

Norwich left Portman Road with a narrow 1-0 victory back in October 2017. In a pretty close game, James Maddison’s excellent strike proved to the difference. Town huffed and puffed in the search for an equaliser, but it wasn’t to be for McCarthy’s men.

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